Over at Jezebel, Moe responds to my post:Gray rape, if you think about it, is an ideal term to describe a topic about which I am so conflicted. it evokes the notion of "shades of gray," which is to say, the nuance without which empathy would not be possible. I forgave my gray rapist or date rapist or whatever a long time ago, much longer ago than I would have if I had felt myself that night to be in the presence of the OMG PURE EVIL that would be required to commit the sorts of things I'd been used to calling rape in the past. It is a loaded and powerful term, after all, and I derive no empowerment from using it to characterize his offense.

Ok, I'll repeat myself and say that the definition of rape does not change depending on its empowering/disempowering effect on the people involved, or whether they choose to use the word "rape." And rape isn't something that's committed only by guys who are OMG PURE EVIL. Even if 99% of the time he's an upstanding citizen and all-around awesome dude, but he still wouldn't listen that one time when you said "no," he's still a rapist -- and it's still rape.

A Jezebel commenter writes,Just like we have manslaughter, vs. 2nd or 1st degree murder, there are many different forms and levels of sexual assault.

I concede that there are different kinds of rapes (in that the circumstances vary), but I don't believe that "worse" or "better" rapes. Sure, we have degrees of murder. But there has never been any question in modern society that it is a crime to kill another person. However, feminists had to work damn hard to get courts and society to recognize that rape is a crime. (Clearly, that battle is still being fought.) So introducing "degrees" of rape has the effect of diminishing the idea that it's a crime. Period.

I do feel slightly more conflicted about the appropriate legal response to situations in which women (drunk or not) may not want to have sexual contact with someone, but also do not say "no," push back, or make any other outward indication that they are opposed. (This doesn't apply to the situation Moe described, in which she said "NO" several times and he continued anyway.) But in the end, I keep coming back to the idea that we need to strongly advocate for the idea of enthusiastic consent, and make that the standard.

Putting our differences on "gray rape" aside, Moe and I can totally agree that "emosogynist" is an incredibly useful term. And I echo her call for more conversation about your personal experiences with rape -- no matter what you choose to call it.Posted by Ann at 05:45 PM in-->A blast from the Laura Sessions Stepp pastThanks to Scott for reminding me that gray-rape enthusiast Laura Sessions Stepp is the same person who argued in The Washington Post last year that girls who like sex make dudes limp.Seriously.

So a little retro Feministing for you:

Apparently women who like sex too much are responsible for a scourge of impotence among college men.

The Washington Post reports on the problem of younger men experiencing erectile dysfunction, which is supposedly caused in part by young women initiating sex.

According to surveys, young women are now as likely as young men to have sex and by countless reports are also as likely to initiate sex, taking away from males the age-old, erotic power of the chase.

"I know lots of girls for whom nothing is off limits," says Helen Czapary, a junior at the University of Maryland. "The pressure on the guys is a huge deal."

One can argue that a young woman speaking her mind is a sign of equality. "That's a good thing," says [teacher Robin] Sawyer, father of four daughters. "But for some guys, it has come at a price. It's turned into ED in men you normally wouldn't think would have ED."

Hartley, Nina. In the Flesh: A Porn Stars Journey.-This excerpt is a first hand account of Nina Hartley who was a Porn stars experiences.

Brownmiller, Susan. In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution-This disscusses the pornography wars, between radicals and sex radicals. Its also a story of Susan Brownmillers experiences.

Dworkin, Andrea. Life and Death. The Free Press, NY.-I enjoyed this article alot. Dworkin disscusses the relations of slave Fredick Douglass and how they coralate to experiences of porn industry workers. Its hard to read because of some of the upsetting stories but its very interesting.

Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed.

Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so that you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order and it will also give you a lift.

Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small). Comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.

Some don'ts. Don't greet him with problems or complains. Don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for hinm. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing, and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.

Listen to him. You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

Make the evening his. Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

The goal. Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

Friday, August 24, 2007

A 25-year-old man was charged Thursday for allegedly raping and beating a woman in an apartment hallway -- an incident apparently witnessed by as many as 10 people who did nothing.Eventually, police showed up after responding to a call about "drunken behavior" in the apartment hallway, where they found the alleged rapist Rage Ibrahim (appropriate name) and the woman both lying unconscious, she with her clothing pulled up and bearing "fresh scratches on her face and blood on her thigh."

When the police reviewed surveillance video from the hallway, they saw that the assault started about 1:20am, but the call about the "drunken behavior" didn't come in until nearly an hour and a half later—even though the video also shows five to 10 people peering our their doors or "starting to walk down the hallway before retreating" during the assault. Police spokesman Tom Walsh said: "It shows one person looking out of her door probably three times. It shows another person walking up, observing what's going on, then turning and putting up the hood of his sweatshirt."

The 26-year-old victim knocked on a door at one point, yelling for the occupants to call police. A man inside that apartment told police he didn't open the door or look out, but said he did call police -- although they have no record of his call, according to court documents.…Walsh said police were upset by the behavior of the bystanders. "It's not what we expect of responsible citizens," he said."If you're not comfortable, if you don't feel capable of intervening, that's fine," Walsh said. "But not calling is not understandable."

Nonetheless, and despite Minnesota's Good Samaritan law which ostensibly compels people to provide reasonable help to a person in danger of "grave physical harm," and makes it a petty misdemeanor if they don't, none of the neighbors are likely to be charged—because "authorities would have to show that witnesses knew the woman was in extreme danger," and what sensible adult could be expected to conclude that a woman beaten until she was bleeding, screaming for help, and being raped was in danger of "grave physical harm," right?

Anyway, the AP is quick to inform us, she'd been drinking. Plus, the alleged rapist makes a good point.

[The complaint] said the woman was visiting the apartment of a friend, where she met Ibrahim; after drinking for several hours, she told police Ibrahim tried to stop her from leaving, and began to assault her.Ibrahim denied to police that he tried to rape the woman, saying if he wanted to do so he would have done it in the apartment, according to the complaint.

Yeah, I mean, why rape her out in the hallway where there might have been witnesses? They might do absolutely nothing!Ibrahim also explained: "I've got a mom, I've got a sister. I wouldn't rape anyone." Right, I forgot how rapists don't have mothers.

You know, I actually hope this story's wrong. I quite genuinely want to believe that a record of that call will be found, or, I don't know, something. Except I don't hold out much hope for it. I've been shocked on far too many occasions in my life by the callous disregard for human life, including lives right in front of our noses.*

I've seen people literally step over a body stretched lengthwise across the sidewalk on Chicago's Michigan Avenue during evening rush hour—dozens of people, walking around or right over the prostrate figure of a homeless man, on their hurried way home. I stopped to see if he was okay, if he needed medical attention, if he was alive, and people stopped not to help, but to look at me with utter disgust, before walking on. And just recently, a man had a stroke and fell and cracked his head open on the train platform in front of Mr. Shakes during morning rush hour. He was the only one who stopped to help this elderly man, staying with him and trying to care for him and making sure he was breathing, alive, until the paramedics arrived.

That's why the whole "not my problem" posture doesn't work for me. Because if I don't make it my problem when someone else needs help, maybe no one else will. Everyone seems to presume that someone else will help, surely there are plenty of Good Samaritans in the world, it's not like everyone will do nothing, someone else will do the Right Thing—but on what, precisely, is that presumption based? If you can find an excuse to not get involved, what makes you think everyone else can't do the same? Is it the one person—the girl crouched over the homeless man on the sidewalk, the guy cradling the bleeding man on the train platform—that one person you always seem to see that reassures you there's always someone else, that it never has to be you?

On another occasion, I was on the el, when a man sitting across from me—I can still picture him in his clean Bulls jumpsuit and dingy gray coat fifteen years later—pulled out his penis and started masturbating and leaning toward me. When I stood up to get off the train, he grabbed me, still masturbating with the other hand, grunting and panting, and I had to wrestle free of his grip to get off the train. There were at least a dozen other people on that train, mostly men, and not a single one of them stood to help me or said a word, even as I struggled and yelled. Evidently, I was the only one on the train who would have been willing to "get involved" to at least try to protect someone from the assault, but I was the one being assaulted. Bad luck.

But I guess that's my problem.------------------* I've been shocked on occasions by some rather astonishingly brave and wonderful things, too, but I would be lying if I said they were not decidedly more rare.

This is a course in feminist political thought. Feminist political thought is a diverse literature that addresses the issues involved in conceiving women as a constituent part of political life. Among the issues addressed by feminist political theorists are the status of women in the tradition of western political thought, the influence of gender on the work of traditional authors, the effects of male domination in organizing social and political life, the impact of gender on the generation of knowledge, developing standards of truth, and defining objectivity, the possibility of alternatives to male domination, and the global dimensions of feminism.

Feminist political theorists develop their positions in relation to a variety of intellectual resources, including older forms of feminism, empirical studies of women, the traditional canon of political theory, Marxism, psychoanalysis, the philosophy of science, linguistics, literary criticism, the literature on race, law, and writing on sexuality. The political relevance and interdisciplinary range of feminist political thought make feminist political thought the most exciting sub-field in contemporary political theory. Feminist writing about gender inequity, male violence, sexuality and pornography has had a tremendous impact on social life and political debate in the United States, an impact which is likely to grow as feminist writers further analyze the role of gender in American social and political life.

The books to be purchased for this course from the University Book Store or Study Master are:1. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women.2. Chandra Talpalde Mohanty, Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity3. Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified4. Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider.5. Susan Bordo, Unbearable Weight6. Aida Hurtado, The Color of Privilege

The required reserve readings include:1. Luce Irigaray, This Sex Which Is Not One, excerpts.2. Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought, excerpts.3. John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women, excerpts.4. Christina Hoff Summers, Who Stole Feminism, excerpts.5. Phyllis Schafly, The Power of the Positive Woman, excerptsStudents are to copy reserve texts.

Rationalizations, Options, and Specifications:

1. Class Attendance. Class attendance is mandatory. I believe that speaking and listening in class are important for student understanding of political theory. Students will carry most classroom discussion and should be prepared when they come to class. Assignments should be read, questions formulated, and positions developed on relevant issues.

The instructor must be notified of all absences in advance. Students are subject to a deduction of 2.5 points from the final grade for each time they are absent without prior notification.

Students who notify the professor of absences in advance and have four absences or fewer will suffer no penalty for their absence. Students who notify the professor and have more than four absences owe the professor a five-page paper for each four absences on a topic to be mutually decided upon. Each extra paper will count seven points and students who do an extra paper will have their grades figured on a scale of 107 rather than 100. Students who do two extra papers will have their grades figured on a scale of 114 points, etc.

2. Quizzes. There will be between eight and ten unannounced, graded quizzes given over the course of the semester. For the quizzes, students will be required to make identifications. Quizzes will be given at the beginning of class. Since the quizzes are meant primarily to check on student progress, they will be very straightforward.

3. Typing. A research paper on a topic in feminist political theory is required in this class. Students will be required to choose a topic, perform research in books and articles, develop their own argument, and justify their argument by citing relevant sources. The final draft of the paper needs to be 12-15 pages long. The research paper will be executed in three stages: 1. a paper topic and bibliography of at least thirty sources; 2. a progress report; 3. a first draft of the paper that both proposes and justifies an argument; 4. a final draft that substantially revises the first draft. Due dates for the research papers will be handled the same way as take-home exams.

4. Quizzes. There will be between eight to ten announced and unannounced, graded quizzes given over the semester. Quizzes will be five questions long and will be chosen from questions posted for this class on Blackboard. Quizzes will be given at the beginning of class. Since the quizzes are meant primarily to check on attendance and reading, they will be very straightforward.

3. Take-Home Essay Exams. There will be three take-home essay exams during the semester. Students will be required to answer one question out of four or five questions provided by the professor. Each question will have several sub-questions and students will be required to answer all sub-questions. Almost all of the questions on exams will involve comparing the arguments of one political theorist to the arguments of another political theorist. In answering the questions, students will be required to: 1. Show knowledge of relevant political theory texts; 2. show a knowledge of the relevant arguments introduced by the professor during class lectures; 3. articulate their own point of view on the issue in the question.

Grades on exams will give on a scale ranging from 0-100. Those exams which receive 90-100 points will be given an “A,” those receiving 80-89 points will receive a “B,” etc.

90-100: Exams receiving this grade must possess one or more qualities of excellence, includingaccuracy, thoroughness, comprehension of several points of view, originality of viewpoint. Exams receiving grades over 95 must combine several of these qualities.

80-89: Exams receiving this grade must demonstrate, at a minimum, a good, solid knowledge ofthe political theory texts relevant to the question. Exams in this range will be expected tohave more mistakes then exams in the 90-100 range, but not enough for the professor toconclude that the student does not understand the material. In determining a grade withinthis range, the professor will weigh considerations of accuracy and knowledge of thematerial in relation to any qualities of excellence in the paper.

70-79: Exams receiving this grade must demonstrate significant knowledge of the political theorytexts relevant to the question even if the student struggles in putting together concepts to summarize a theory, apply the theory to a hypothetical, or develop their own comparisons and evaluations of political theory concepts. Grades within this range are also applied to exams that show a good knowledge of political theory texts but do not address one or more sub-questions.

60-69: Exams receiving this grade must demonstrate some knowledge of the political theorytexts relevant to the exam. However, exams in this grade will include mistakes of such magnitude that the professor will judge that the student’s knowledge of the relevant texts is poor.

0-59 Exams receiving a grade in this range either demonstrate almost no knowledge of the relevant political theory texts, fail to address a question from this particular exam, or fail to address several sub-questions. This is a failing grade.

4. Typing. All papers must be typed or word-processed. Typewriters and word processors are available at the library and other campus sites. Those students who have their papers typed for them are responsible for getting their papers in on time.

5. Late Take-Home Exams: Students will have two weeks to do the take-home exams. Extensions will granted only in the most dire circumstances and will be accompanied by a ten-point grade deduction.

6. Grade Appeals: The development of student capacities for forming their own opinions and making arguments is an important objective of the course. Consequently, if students believe that they deserved a higher grade, the professor is more than willing to consider their arguments and re-evaluate their exams. The professor does increase grades when he considers such action to be justified.

7. Quiz Exercises: For the two class exercises, students will: 1. read an extra assignment of the professor's choosing (30-40 pages); 2. write a 3-page paper on the assignment; 3. participate in a group discussion of the assignment; 4. report on the assignment with your group. The grade for the exercise will be based on the quality of the paper. Turning in papers on time is mandatory for this assignment. Late papers will be docked ten points a day. Attendance for group exercises and presentations is also mandatory. Unconsulted absences on these days will result in a zero grade for the assignment. Consulted absences will be made up by writing an additional paper.

8. a. Extra Credit. The surest way to earn extra credit is show steady improvement on exams over the course of the semester. Those who show steady improvement (and come to class) will have their grade on the final exam count as the grade for the whole class.

8. b. “At the Margins” Points. Students who earn 15 “At the Margins” (or ATM) Points will be given credit for two extra points on their final grades if they are borderline A/B. Three ATM points will be given for students whose class presentations in class exercises are rated excellent; b. three ATM points will be given students whose participation contributes to the conduct of the class; c. two ATM points for attendance and reports at designated extracurricular events.

9. Academic Dishonesty. The Department of Geography, Government, and History at Morehead State University maintains a high academic standard including the expectation that all written work will be your own – not copied, borrowed, downloaded, or otherwise taken and passed off as your own. If any work is submitted which is not your own it will be returned with a failing grade and your name and a description of the offense may be forwarded to the Dean of Students.

Plagiarism is using the words, sentences, or even ideas of another person without specific acknowledgment. Plagiarism includes: 1) copying the work of another student with or without the other student’s knowledge; 2) collaborating with another student and submitting work that is identical, nearly identical, or inordinately similar; 3) changing a few words but copying the sentence structure without giving credit; 4) copying words and/or passages directly from books, articles, course readings, or internet sites, and failing to use quotation marks and/or offering appropriate citation. If there are any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism it is the student’s responsibility to clarify any questions with the instructor.

This is the course blog for Govt 317, Feminist Political Theory, at Morehead State University in Morehead, KY. BloggingFeministTheory is going to be used primarily as a tool for students to employ in building bibliographies for research papers.